Ronak Gopaldas

Director, Signal Risk

Ronak Gopaldas is a director at Signal Risk, a South Africa-based risk analysis firm providing in-depth analysis on major political, security and economic developments across the African continent. His work focuses on the intersection of politics, economics and business in Africa. He was previously the head of Country Risk at Rand Merchant Bank (RMB). He is also a research fellow at the NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies (CAS).

Congolese cheer ahead of Pope Francis's arrival at Martyrs' Stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on 2 February 2023. The competition between China and the US in the DRC is intensifying. (Tiziana Fabi/AFP)

Economy

Is the US subverting China's influence in the DRC?

By Daniel van Dalen , By Ronak Gopaldas 01 Mar 2023

In the battle for resources in the clean energy race, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) stands as a critical piece of the puzzle, holding access to key metals such as cobalt, lithium, copper and coltan. While China has been an early dominant investor, the US is upping the stakes and seeking to throw the competition wide open.